#ArtistToWatch: Philly’s Own BlumBros, From The Blumberg Projects On Their Way to the Top

In recent years of hip-hop, we’ve seen a new age of rap emerge on the scene that’s so powerful and vibrant that it’s giving birth to a whole new generation to carry the torch. In Philadelphia, the sound of hip-hop is so pure, uncut, and unique that it makes it almost impossible to sum it up in one word. Rappers of all walks of life and different styles are rising up to be tomorrow’s next biggest thing. In this city you never know what to expect and this hip-hop group is on a mission to become the next global rap sensation to change the game.

Raphael and Cartier Perkins, better known as Raphy and Carty, are members of an upcoming rap duo called BlumBros. The hip-hop duo formed back in 2016, but these two brothers have been making music for sometime now. Born and raised in North Philadelphia, Raphy and Carty come from humble beginnings out of the Blumberg Projects, a housing project in the city. While they were separated very young, the two siblings reunited to fight for their passion – music.

They haven’t been on the music scene for very long, but they still managed to capture the attention of well-known music executive J. Erving who signed the duo to a distribution deal under his new company, Human Re-Sources. After having the chance to listen to their music, I knew what all the hype was about. These two are extremely talented with a style that catches you off-guard, but immediately has you vibing to their music.

With the help of their manager, Todd “Morty” Perry II, I was able to speak with the BlumBros about their compelling backstory, their recent deal with J. Erving, and their plans for the future as they climb their way to the top.

Njera: For those who don’t know, you two are brothers who come from a family of 11 siblings in the Blumberg Projects, which inspired your group name. Now you all were separated at a young age and raised in different parts of Philadelphia, how did that end up happening?

BlumBros: “When I was about 2, my mom she had like this drug problem. From there it was like she couldn’t get clean at the time and she didn’t have a stable home. So that’s when DHS came into the picture and we all had gotten separated until we ended up getting back together.”

Njera: Being that you guys were raised separately, what made you want to come together and start making music?

BlumBros: [Carty] “We really came back together when we were able to because being as though we were kids and we had no control over where we go or what we do, it’s like as time went on and we got older, we were able to like branch off from the homes and have a little bit more freedom. Eventually, all my mom’s kids started coming back around each other. But as far as me and Raphy, I really just came back with him because I got two big brothers that’s in jail and I’m like the oldest boy out here right now, so I wanted to make sure that my little brothers was good because it’s two more under me [Raphy and my other little brother]. That’s really why I came and started being around them again because it’s a lot of stuff going on in the streets of Philly right now. I had to make sure that they had some type of idol to look up to. So I just started coming back around and made sure they was good.”

Photo: BlumBros (Twitter)

Njera: So you guys formed this group back in 2016 and managed to snag a deal just last month with J. Erving, a Philly native and music executive, to his company called Human Re-Sources. Tell me a little bit about how the deal came about and what kind of deal it is exactly.

BlumBros: “It came about our first time going to California. We actually performed in March 2017 and performed in his office. He was loving what he heard and he said we had potential, but being as though we couldn’t really do too much [because we just was starting] and the fan base wasn’t there, we took some time off. For the next six to eight months, we were getting our fan base and working on better music, so once we came back around it was like okay I think we’re ready now because everything was up to par.”

“As far as the deal, it’s not like we’re signed under a label or nothing, it’s just like a 1-track distribution deal. Basically to blow the song up and we own the rights to our music. Then when other labels start coming in that’s when we can talk about the cuts and stuff like that. So for right now we’re going to do it track by track.”

Njera: Is it for any one particular track right now?

BlumBros: “Yeah, right now it’s a track called ‘Dope,’ it came out probably like a month and a half, two months ago. It’s like one of our popular [tracks], when it come to the club it’s one of our popular songs, like everybody know that song more than a lot of songs because it’s a good song. That’s the one he had chose to distribute.”

Njera: Being a hip-hop duo I have to ask, who are some of your biggest influences?

[Carty] “I’ll say Meek Mill, PnB Rock, and Lil Uzi. Being as though, I’m only 23 years old [around the same age as them], I’ve seen where they come from like the bottom and the trenches [like me] and I’ve seen them work their way up to the top. So they just influence me and inspire me to get where they at.”

Njera: In what ways has Philadelphia influenced the group’s style of hip-hop?

BlumBros: “To be honest, I don’t think Philadelphia influenced us in our style of hip-hop at all. When it comes to the city, [when it comes to like BlumBros], everybody in the city know that BlumBros’ are like different from people in Philadelphia and that’s what makes us stand out. That’s what caught the attention all the way from California, not just like Jersey, Delaware, and the surrounding areas. We caught attention from like far out, even as far as Atlanta. So we really don’t think our sound has a Philly type style. I’d say our style is more like down South.”

Njera: What are the group’s plans for the future as far as pursuing music?

BlumBros: “Work more on our fan base and in the future we hope our fan base will be bigger than what it is right now. From the looks of it, I can see that it’s going to expand within the next couple of months.”

Njera: What would you all say is the group’s end goal as hip hop artists?

BlumBros: [Carty] “The ultimate goal right now, I just want to just make this music that people can feel. I want our music to be able to move people, speak to people. I want to be able to send messages through my music. That’s why we don’t really talk about a lot of negative stuff, you know shooting people up, stuff like that. I want to be able to get a positive message out there. And I don’t want to just be all over the U.S., I want to go like global. I want to go to different countries, like overseas all that. I don’t want this to just be in the U.S., I want to go farther than that.”

[Raphy] “Basically I say the same thing, I agree to what Carty said.”

Photo: BlumBros (Instagram)

Njera: What should people be on the lookout for from you guys right now?

BlumBros: “Right now we got a mixtape coming next month. We don’t have a release date yet, but it should be dropping in the middle of February. Also, we have more songs that are going to be dropping on Spotify through J. Erving.”

Njera: Where can people follow you guys and keep up with your music?”

BlumBros: “BlumBros everywhere. Every social media, you can google us and we’ll just pop up.”

These two have a lot in store for us and I for one can’t wait to hear what they’ve been working on. I’m very excited to see their career take off.

Make sure you keep up with them on all social media platforms and check out some of their music below.